Recently, TOPS introduced its “Code Yellow” series and, naturally, I wanted to get my hands on them and try them out. Not so much because of any radical design changes; instead, the bright yellow coating is something we value when it comes to jungle use. For those of you who have spent some time in a tropical forest, you know how the vegetation can swallow up anything with an earth-tone color. All that’s required is to lay it down and turn your attention elsewhere for a brief time, and the forest will magically make your knife disappear. Surveyors learned this a long time ago and kept pushing machete manufacturers until they finally came out with a bright orange handle. We also learned this lesson and now opt for bright handled machetes in our jungle operations. Losing a five-dollar machete may not seem like much unless it’s the only one you have while in the middle of nowhere.
